Program Chair Report

Dear Fellow OMTers,

Looking back at this year’s Academy of Management Virtual Meeting, let me start by saying thank you very much to everyone who worked so hard to create a successful program in what was for all of us unprecedented circumstances. The authors, organizers, reviewers, presenters, attendees and participants all contributed to the success of a diverse, rich, and stimulating program.

There were 604 paper submissions and 126 symposium proposals this year, well in line with recent trends, but slightly down from the record totals reached last year. Some 921 reviewers from 54 countries signed up with OMT to help create the program—thank you so much for all your work. The 93% review completion rate was much appreciated given the trying times in which papers and symposia were being evaluated.

The Academy had planned, of course, to meet in Vancouver, which meant the allocation of paper sessions and symposia to meeting rooms, a process that was nullified by the eventual move toward a virtual meeting. There was a particularly tight budget of program space provided to OMT by AOM this year. Despite restrictions, we were able to accept 264 papers and 78 symposia, with 74 of these symposia co-sponsored with other divisions. The topics were wide-ranging and included, among paper sessions: Stigma and Scandal, Status Dynamics, New and Disruptive Technology, and Simulation Studies of Exploration, Competition, and Cooperation; and among symposia: Rethinking Capitalism, Alternative Institutionalism, Social Class in Organizations, Entrepreneurial Pivoting, and Labor Market Inequality.

The table below provides an overview of the most prevalent keywords chosen by both paper submitters and reviewers for theories and methods.

Thanks to Richard Haans, we can examine paper topics that exhibit rising submission trends this year relative to previous years. First, were papers that included references to impressions, frameworks, and symbolism. Second, were papers that referenced occupations and communities. Third, were papers that referenced stigma, scandal, and transgression. And fourth, were papers that referenced identity.

Grouping the submissions into sessions is a key aspect of the program creation, and perhaps one of the most challenging ones. This year, given the lockdown in the UK, I put the program together myself, but many thanks again to Richard Haans for his algorithmic expertise in providing me with a very helpful initial listing of papers by topic. That was very much appreciated.

As in previous years, we again recognized our members with awards, including those for the ABCD Best Reviewers, Best Published Paper, Best Conference Paper, Best Student Paper, Best Paper on Environmental & Social Practices, Best International Paper (sponsored by Organization Studies / SAGE), Best Entrepreneurship Paper (Sponsored by Innovation: Organization & Management), Best Symposium, and the Lou Pondy Award for Best Paper from a Dissertation.

Also, the excellence of the OMT program was recognized by AOM in that the two Academy- wide awards for papers both went to OMT authors.

The Carolyn Dexter Award for Best International Paper presented at the Academy meetings went to: Devi Vijay, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta; Philippe Monin, EMLYON Business School and Mukta Kulkarni, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore for: “Strangers at the Bedside: Subaltern Solidarities and New Form Institutionalization.”

The William H. Newman award for the Academy’s best paper based on a dissertation was shared equally between two papers, one of which was nominated by OMT, authored by Brittany Bond: "Pride Without Prejudice: The Burden of Under-Recognition in Organizations.”

On Monday the recipient of our Distinguished Scholar Award, Ann Langley, gave an acceptance speech entitled “What Is This A Case of? Generative Theorizing for Disruptive Times.” Ann focused on the “elephant in the room” of Covid-19 as a phenomenon that we, as OMTers, should be studying, and for which we have many conceptual tools. The difficulty is that we are all “with” this phenomenon, no one can step outside of it, but social distancing makes data collection particularly challenging. You can view Ann’s inspiring talk here.

At the business meeting on Tuesday, the Joanne Martin Trailblazer Award this year went to Douglas Creed, University of Rhode Island College of Business, Bryant Hudson, IESEG, Gerardo Okhuysen, UCI Paul Merage School of Business, and Maureen Scully, UMass Boston College of Management, for their scholarly efforts in starting and shaping our conversation about LGBT issues, stigma, shame, taboo, and power in organizational settings. Our sincere congratulations again to all the awardees!

Eva Boxenbaum is already working on next year’s program as Program Chair, and Forrest Briscoe has joined the team as PDW Chair—I know they will make the 2021 meeting, scheduled for Philadelphia, a terrific success. Please feel free to contact us, or any of the other Division Officers, if you have ideas about how we can further build the OMT Community together and improve upon the OMT Program for everyone.

Thank you for all your contributions and looking forward to seeing you all and continuing to make OMT the Place to Be!

Best wishes and keep safe,

Martin Kilduff,

2020 OMT program chair.